Chapter 24 Section 3 Inheritance and Development of Traditional Acrobatics

On the basis of the acrobatic art of "Nongwan" and "Nongjian" in the pre-Qin, Han, Sui and Tang Dynasties, new programs of drum sticks have been derived through innovation.Drum sticks are the same as "Nongwan" and "Nongjian". It is a hand skill for performing throwing and catching utensils. It requires a high degree of unity of hands, eyes, body, ears, and steps to give people artistic appreciation.Since the sharp short sword has been changed into colorful drum sticks, not only is there no danger during the performance, but also the beautiful and complicated movements can be added, giving people the enjoyment of pure artistic beauty. , which is more attractive to the audience.According to Yu Wenbao's Record of Blowing Swords in the Song Dynasty, some monasteries let monks play drum sticks to increase people's interest when doing Buddhist ceremonies.In the Yuan Dynasty, Li You called the drumstick "Huagu stick" in "Miscellaneous Notes of Ancient Hangzhou", and it was performed by a monk.He took three or four drum sticks in his hand, and "threw them around in a circle, and all the women took pleasure in watching them".During the Song and Yuan dynasties, when people held funerals, they would ask monks to perform acrobatics of throwing and catching drum sticks. It can be seen that drum sticks were used in the "Washe", "Goulan or" and "Village Operas" at that time, and even in the vast number of folks. , is a popular acrobatic show.

Nong Dou is an early form of diabolo that is still popular among the people. It is gradually developed from the ancient folk game of "gyro".Playing the game of "top" was still popular among the people in the early 1950s. It used a whip to whip the "top" from time to time to make it rotate continuously.This ancient game was reformed in the Song Dynasty to spin on ropes, sticks and in the air without falling to the ground, called "Nong Dou".In the Ming Dynasty, it was renamed as "Kongzhong", and after the Qing Dynasty, it was gradually renamed as "Diabolo".Diabolo is made of an inch-wide bamboo ring, sealed with wooden boards on both sides, to make a hollow round wheel with several square whistles around the wheel, and glue the two round wheels on a thin-waisted wooden shaft. It becomes a "two-wheeled diabolo", and if only a round wheel is installed on one end of a wooden shaft, and the other end is made into a cone, it becomes a "single-wheeled diabolo".In order to show their superb skills, some people shake pot lids, shake dulu (a kind of porcelain wine bottle with a small top and a big bottom), and shake big lids (props in the shape of copper pot lids).The skill requires precision, dexterity, and dexterity.It can perform actions such as throwing high, stringing wrists, fluttering butterflies, waist stringing, counter-rotating, small fishing, cucumber racks, and drum lines.Diabolo performers are agile in their performances, sometimes standing, sometimes sitting, and sometimes performing somersaults. They incorporate acrobatic movements such as big jumps, somersaults, and whirling dances very delicately. In the early and mid-1950s, there were hawkers selling "diabolo" and "gyro" in fairs and markets in Tianqiao, Baita Temple, Huguo Temple and Longfu Temple in Beijing. Most middle and primary school students at that time liked this kind of game. art. After the 1960s, with the disappearance of temple fairs, it became difficult to find such toys in Beijing.

Nongqiang is actually derived from the ancient "Nongwan", "Nengjian" and martial arts.Because the body of the gun is relatively long, and the tip of the gun is made of pure steel, it has a sharp point and double edges, which is very sharp. Therefore, it is not only dangerous for artists to practice, but also relatively difficult.In order to attract audiences and make a living, entertainers in the old days deliberately increased the atmosphere of danger. They were often bare-chested and held a scroll in their hands. Several people stood not far from him with spears and spears, and threw them at him. Calmly inserting the spear into the roll with a roll, this skill is somewhat similar to Pei Min's sword dance in the Tang Dynasty.According to the "Picture of Making Spears" in "Xinxi Ancient Music Picture", it is known that this skill has become popular in the Tang Dynasty, and has a new development in the Song Dynasty.The acrobatics of playing guns has a great influence on the martial arts scenes in Chinese operas, and has become the "unique skill" of Daomadan and Wudan, such as in Peking Opera "Iron Bow", "Hongqiao Presenting Pearl" and Sichuan Opera "Nine Beauties of the Fox Fairy". , the actress kicks the gun with her feet, touches the gun with the back protection flag, sometimes catches and kicks the gun with both feet continuously, and also performs acrobatic movements such as jumping, throwing forks, and oolong stirring columns, which seems to be exactly the same as the people of Song Dynasty. .

Make a bowl, commonly known as a top bowl.As early as the early Han Dynasty, there was "Nongwan" among the "Hundred Operas".On the portrait bricks of Han tombs unearthed in Nanyang, Henan, there are images of artists performing handstands with one hand on top of a bowl.Bowl acrobatics was once revived in the Tang Dynasty, but there were not many tricks and difficult movements, and the level was average.In the Washe and Goulan of the Song Dynasty, the acrobatics of playing bowls had a new development and became a relatively popular and moving show.On the basis that artists in the Han Dynasty held bowls on top of their heads, and artists in Tang Dynasty used bowls filled with water above their heads to drink and play without falling to the ground or dripping water, it developed into performing more complicated rotating movements or soft body movements. The combination of jujitsu and extremely graceful body movements gives people a beautiful enjoyment.According to "West Lake Old Man Fan Shenglu", the famous artist who "kicked bottles and played bowls" in Hangzhou in the Southern Song Dynasty was called Zhang Baoge; Among them may be a master of bowling.Today's acrobats Xia Juhua, Qiu Yongquan, Wang Yingying, Wang Yimin, Liu Hongjun and others have introduced new ones and further enriched the acrobatic content of bowl topping.

Qing Dai is a new independent program developed on the basis of the top-holding skills depicted in the murals of the Han Dynasty, the handstand and calisthenics of the Northern Wei Dynasty, and the "stacking tricks" of the Tang Dynasty.In "Xinxi Ancient Music Picture", "stand on willow shoulders", "three children standing upright" and "four people stand upside down" are the contents of the "stacking trick" performed by the people of Tang Dynasty.Qing Dai from the Song Dynasty prefers to perform double opponents. It is recorded in Volume 6 of "Tokyo Dreams Records" "Driving to the Baojin Tower, All the Armies Present a Hundred Plays", there is an artist performing Qing Dai acrobatics. He holds it with both hands. Stirrups, leaning on the saddle bridge with your shoulders, "both feet straight up" on the back of a galloping horse, and standing upside down to hold the top.Holding the top pays attention to the waist, legs, hands, somersaults, and the top. According to modern science, it is necessary to master the principles of mechanics. Therefore, it is very difficult to fully grasp the skills of lifting and wearing.

Kicking and nagging, including kicking bowls and 拶 [za zhuan] building balls.Kicking the bowl is the kicking skill we are talking about today.In the Baixi of the Han Dynasty, although there were many items, most of the emphasis was on hand skills. Only in climbing poles and holding tops did some auxiliary hand skills be used with feet. It did not independently become a special foot skill performance item.In the Cuju plays of the pre-Qin and Han Dynasties, foot skills are particularly displayed.In the Song Dynasty, on the basis of inheriting the acrobatics of the previous generation, artists highlighted the kung fu on their feet and formed a new acrobatic event called kicking skills.According to Wu Zimu's "Meng Liang Lu" volume 20 "Hundred Operas" in the Song Dynasty:

It is also recorded in Naide Weng of Song Dynasty "Capital Ji Sheng": There are also records of "kicking" in books such as "Old Stories of Wulin" and "West Lake Old Man Fan Sheng Lu".Kicking technique, mainly perform the kung fu on the artist's legs, feet and waist. The artist lies on his back on a special seat, table, flat chair or on the ground, and uses his feet to perform the skill of dancing and accepting various props. Make large porcelain vases, copper bells, copper bells, porcelain jars, etc., and make them spin and roll on their feet, or fly down.At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, the book "Pu Tongshi Proverbs Explained" edited by Bian Siam, a Korean, is an ancient textbook for Koreans to learn Chinese.The artist "takes off his clothes and lays naked on his back", with his feet up, and puts "a stick with the length of the support, the thickness of the pavilion column, oil red and gold painting" on the soles of the feet, the insteps, and the toes. Spinning, "falling down, kicking up", fiddled with in every possible way, dazzling and dizzying.The pedaling technique was further developed during the Ming and Qing dynasties.

Cuqiu, commonly known as kicking the ball, is an acrobatic art directly developed from ancient Cuju.Cuqiu in the Song Dynasty is different from playing polo, throwing the ball, and even stepping on the ball in the Tang Dynasty. It mainly highlights the kung fu on the artist's feet and personal skills.This kind of acrobatics of kicking a ball with feet also existed in the Tang Dynasty.In Kang Pian's "Ju Tan Lu General Pan" in the Tang Dynasty, there is a 17- or 18-year-old girl with a three-husband comb, wearing wooden shoes under a locust tree beside the road. On the field, the three maids "pick and send them off, reaching a height of several feet", showing their unique skills in kicking football.The Song Dynasty paid more attention to single performance and double performance.When performing alone, you can use all your strengths to make the ball jump, turn, and roll from the person's head, shoulders, back, chest, abdomen, knees, and feet, so that the ball "wraps around the body without falling" (Song Dynasty Chen Yuanliang " Things Lin Guangji ").The double performance is called "white fight", and several people can form a circle and use various tricks to kick each other.At the end of the Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, Gao Qiu, who was born in Luo Guanzhong, showed his wonderful skills by chance. He was favored by Zhao Ji, the prince of Song Huizong at that time. Later, the official Gao Juexian was promoted to Taiwei (in charge of military working deputy prime minister).

Shuixi, also known as "teaching the aquarium", is commonly known as aquarium play.In Zhang Heng's "Xijing Fu" in the Han Dynasty, although there are records of "toads and turtles, water people playing with snakes", Li You's "Pinglian Fu" records "turtles, toads, zithers, drums and fou". It also specifically records that "the relics come from the west and play in the court, and it is finished; before entering the hall, the water is stirred, turned into a flounder, jumping and rinsing, making a fog to block the sun, and it is finished; it turns into a yellow dragon, eight feet long, and comes out of the water to play in the court, showing off sunlight".In the "Suishu · Music History" written by Wei Zheng in the Tang Dynasty, there is a record of "turtles, fish and turtles, and water people produce fish".But these are all "fish and dragons" in the Han Dynasty, in which the aquariums are played by people or simulated by props, not real waterfowl shows, and the real "water play" acrobatics began in the Song Dynasty.

The most famous "Shuixi" in the Song Dynasty is called "Seven Treasures Play".After Song Gaozong and Zhao Gou became peaceful, Zeng Zhao selected acrobat Zhao Xi to perform "Seven Treasures Opera" in the palace.Zhao Xi put the domesticated black fish, white fish, loach and soft-shelled turtle into the bucket, and while beating the gong, he called out the names of various aquariums. The aquariums that heard the call could not only float on the water surface, but also some You can also wear mask props and play in the water.After each kind of aquarium has performed, it will automatically sink to the bottom of the water to show that the performance is over.According to the "Song Barnyard Banknotes" compiled by Pan Yong in the Qing Dynasty from the barnyard history and notes of the Song Dynasty, it was more popular in Hangzhou to train turtles and fish "water play" in the Southern Song Dynasty:

The acrobatics of taming tortoises and stacking pagodas was still popular in the Yuan Dynasty. At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, Tao Zongyi also recorded the story of "turtles stacking pagodas" in the "Bird Show" in Volume 22 of "Nancun Stop Farming Records". Almost the same.According to the "West Lake Old Man's Fanshenglu", in some squares in Lin'an City in the Southern Song Dynasty, there were often acrobats performing arts to make a living. That is, using domesticated fish and turtles to perform acrobatics is a must.At the end of the Southern Song Dynasty, Zhou Mi recorded "silver crabs and golden turtles" as "water play" in "Old Stories of Wulin". "Water play" scene: The record here is similar to the "Seven Treasures Opera" performed by Zhao Xi, an acrobat during the reign of Emperor Gaozong of Song Dynasty.It can be seen that this kind of "water play" was popular in the Song and Yuan Dynasties. In the Yuan Dynasty, there were also frog taming acrobatics. The "Bird Show" section of "Nancun Stop Farming Records" also recorded the scene of Tao Zongyi watching frog taming in Hangzhou. Nine shrimps domesticated by artists performed on bamboo mats.Put a big pier in the mat, first a big toad jumped onto the wooden pier, and then eight other small toads jumped onto the bamboo mat and lined up on both sides of the wooden pier.The big toad yelled once, and the little toad also yelled several times.After yelling, the eight little toads jumped up one by one in front of the big toad, nodded, and yelled again, and then retreated one by one, as if they were bowing their heads to be taught by the big toad. "Water play" was still popular during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and there are new developments. Illusion in the Song Dynasty inherited the Han and Tang Dynasties, followed by the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and had a new development. On the basis of swallowing knives, spitting fire, eating needles, hiding and carrying small things, and absorbing the two illusions of Buddhism and Taoism, it is more advanced. The land has enriched this acrobatic art, and formed four types of hand-painted, teasing, hiding, and big-set illusion. Hand coloring, this is actually a performance for training the basic skills of illusion. It does not require complicated props, and does not rely on mechanism props to cover people's eyes and ears. Balls, small silk bags, copper coins, steel balls, walnuts, etc. can be changed or changed at will, giving people a wonderful feeling.To perform this kind of hand painting, one must practice the muscles of the palms and the dexterity of the ten fingers so that they can be very fast when hiding. At the same time, they must skillfully distract the audience during the performance so as not to be noticed.In the books such as "Tokyo Menghualu", "West Lake Old Man Fanshenglu", "Old Stories of Wulin" written by the Song Dynasty, and in the third volume "Pian'an Yiyu" of Tian Rucheng's "West Lake Tour Records", there are all records. Illusion "mud pill" program. "Tokyo Menghualu" Volume 6 "Lantern Festival" records that in the late Northern Song Dynasty, in Bianliang City, Tokyo, on the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, artists with "thaumaturgy and supernatural powers" from all over the country came to the capital to "sing and dance". An entertainer named Xiao Jianer specially performed two programs of "spit out five-color water and spin clay balls", which are obviously clever hand-painted tricks.It is recorded under the article "Actors of All Colors" in Volume 6 of "Old Stories of Wulin", that in the Southern Song Dynasty, there were four artists who were good at hand-painted acrobatics in Kyoto, including Wang Xiaoxian, Shi Banxian, Zhang Xiaoxian, and Yuan Chengju. The word "immortal" shows that the artists who perform hand-painted acrobatics are all magical, so they have this reputation.Handicraft artists have a lot of tricks, not only can change the small clay balls back and forth, but also can escape pills, escape money, change pills, and change money in tea bowls.Later, when artists performed this trick, they did not use clay balls and copper coins, but instead used red beans, small cloth bags, dried dates, walnuts, glass balls and other objects, which are still used by artists today. Tricking is a kind of small illusion. According to "Popular Chapter", "Tricking is also called hand skills, which is also called juggling in slang." In fact, it is very similar to hand tricks, and it is also performed by hand.The difference is that it sometimes needs some small props with organs, which is surprising and amazing.In "West Lake Old Man Fanshenglu", it is recorded that the famous artist Lin Yuxian performed the illusion of "sacred flowers and medicines", probably conjuring more precious medicinal materials from a pot of flowers. "Meng Liang Lu" records the illusion of "pumping rice wine" and "pumping and releasing life". It is probably that artists conjure rice wine in empty bowls, conjure birds or pigeons in empty boxes or boxes, and then let them fly away.In "Old Stories of the Martial Arts", it is recorded that when Emperor Lizong of Song Dynasty celebrated Zhao Yun's birthday, the famous artist Yao Run "triggered" a small illusion of "release the longevity fruit", probably by conjuring three longevity peaches in an empty box (ancient Chinese pay attention to blessings). Lu Shou, or five blessings come to the door, there are mostly three longevity peaches, and occasionally five), and a bird is transformed from the longevity peaches, which is released on the spot to show virtue and auspiciousness.Another artist, Zhao Xi, is good at "miscellaneous handicrafts" and performed "Birthday Blessing Immortal", which is probably a birthday gift conjured up with empty hands or small props, which belongs to the scope of hand lottery or trickery.19 famous entertainers, including Lin Yuxian, Yao Jinxian and Shi Banxian, are recorded in the item "Collection of Miscellaneous Arts" in the column of "Various Artists" in Volume 6 of this book.In "Tokyo Menghualu" Volume 5 "Jingwa Geishi", it is recorded that "the little knife, the muscles and the bones, the miscellaneous hands and eyes are all over the body".In Wu Zimu's "Meng Liang Lu", he explained the art of "teasing": "This art of presenting is unique, and the art of hiding is just a trick." From this we can know that the stage name of an artist is "Full Eyes" "" and "full body hand" have the same meaning, which is to praise its quick hands and eyes, which is wonderful and amazing. Hidden coercion, a work of Tibetan (扌恐) [ye Ye], is also a delicate illusion.Song Dynasty Chen Yang's "Book of Music" Volume 187 "Miscellaneous Music" records: This passage refers to the fact that during performances, the things to be changed are often hidden on the body so that the audience cannot see them, and they are quickly taken out of the body with hands and eyes, so that outsiders cannot see any flaws.Hiding is similar to teasing, except that in addition to relying on hand skills, some small props that can cover people's eyes are also needed during performance.The performers may hide the things they want to change on their bodies and take them as they change, as if they came from nothing. Sometimes they are also hidden in the interlayer of the props, and they can be changed at will by small organs, which is unpredictable. To sum up, it can be seen that although the three types of illusions are different from each other, they have similarities, that is, expressing the quickness of hands and eyes, so they can also be collectively referred to as hand skills (a kind of hand trick).Yan Shu, a well-known poet who was a prime minister in the Northern Song Dynasty, wrote a poem "Shangsi Qionglin Garden Banquet and Two Mansions Touring Chishang Immediately and Kouzhan":